A little background… My school is one of two buildings for our charter. I work in the K-5 building housing 900 kids and there is a 6-9 building housing 400 kids next door. This urban school has been around for eight years. It has an average of 60-80% turnover every year for teachers alone. As I read figure 14.1, Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model, I saw things that could be improved in every cell. Two of our biggest problems are; 1) matching between people & position, and 2) tools, resources, time, and materials designed to achieve performance needs. The lack of consequences (that are reinforced), incentives (made known to students), or rewards (that are actually given) from the Cause Analysis section of the ISPI’s HPT Model (figure 14.2) is the top concern. My students have rough, inconsistent home lives and bring a lot of baggage with them to school. Having an administration and staff that used some of the information in this chapter would work wonders to improve student behavior and teacher morale. I hope our management company will be receptive to the things that I’m learning and would like to present to them.
1. The site I chose is http://recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/humanities/cityzeum.php. It has a pull-down menu of 19 categories that each contain several podcasts. You can choose from humanities, English language and literature, math and science, history and geography, and modern and traditional languages to name a few. I chose to subscribe to the humanities city museum Paris podcasts. They have a lot of cultural information on Paris monuments, museums, squares and streets, gardens, statues, and more. It includes information on things to see there, things that are nearby, things to do, and/or which métro station to use. (The Paris métro system can be a little intimidating.) It also includes the address, admission prices, and phone number. The pronunciation is excellent. It is an UK listed site but, the accent of the speaker is midwestern U.S. It does not provide further information/links of the things being broadcast, the things there or the things nearby; however, everything is listed for easy searching on other sites. It would be useful to accompany a textbook, slideshow, posters or pictures. Some possible French lessons: directions, art, history, grammar (commands, past tense).
2. I think one area in particular that could be a great benefit is for K-12 educational programs to video/podcast lessons for students who are unable to physically attend classes, say due to illness, detentions or suspensions. My students don’t care about missing out on school. They don’t make the work up most of the time and have fun doing what they want instead of being “stuck” in classes. With a video/podcast lesson they wouldn’t miss out on anything. That would make teacher’s lives easier too with regard to all the makeup work.
4 comments:
Good luck on your presentation. Having a solid structure really does help smooth the education process. My school is no where near perfect but we are trying to make improvements. We are trying to focus on lettings students know we actually care and have a stake in their education. I have worked in other schools where I never saw administration, discipline was lacking, and student achievement was very low. It is frustrating when you feel like you don't have a support team to help you.
I agree that video podcasts could be used for students who miss a day of class. There are certain days that if a student misses, they have to stay after for me to basically reteach the whole lesson. I don't mind reteaching but I can't help anyone else after school that day if I have to spend my time on reteaching one student. Also, staying after school sometimes interferes with other activities like sports and so on.
It is hard to convince people of the important things to learn to be successful in life when they grow up in a system that has such a different idea of what is important.
Some of these things really are important and are things that many of the more fortunate kids don't have to worry about like food, shelter, affection and safety. So in comparrison, long division and state capitals seem unimportant.
Donna,
Please allow me to give you my sincere admiration. The circumstances and students that you describe would probably be more than I would want to handle. I give anyone in K-12 education, especially in today’s world, due credit. I particularly commend you on your educational efforts for your students.
Jeff Tyler
I like your idea for the students who miss a day of class. I think this would help you a great deal because you wouldn't have to spend your vital class time explaining what you did yesterday to one student. You could put them on a computer and away they go. Great idea. Also, I feel for you and admire what you do. A good structure set by the administration and teachers is always a good start. I'm sure you already know that. I hope your presentation goes well you really turn some heads. Good luck!
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